A Time Travel Fic
by Marauder no. Five
Summary: An OC finds herself thrown not only back in time but into a fictional universe where the Marauders and Voldemort await her. Can she find a way home? Will she want to leave if she is given the choice? Changes to the future may be made! Sirius/OC
1. The Beginning

**A.N. 18/12/2010 **Sorry guys, I've reloaded everything again. I promise, promise, promise that this is the last time. It was only spelling and grammar mistakes this time so you should all be okay until chapter seven which I'll post in a little while.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Some of this story is mine and the rest is owned by various persons and companies. Please don't sue me. I make very little money, none of which comes from this. Similarly, I also don't own the quotations used at the beginning of each chapter (and at the end of chapters if I ever feel like it). Most quotes will have a reference of sorts underneath.**

**A.N. Sorry guys but I'm reloading everything again. I had no clue which chapters I'd made changes to and which ones I didn't. I think you're all safe up until the end of chapter three. Again, I have no clue.**

**Now, for all of you who have been such faithful readers of this weird mess I have to say, "It will have an ending!" I've already written the epilogue which doubles as the beginning of chapter one of A Time Travel Fic Part 2. That's right! A Sequel! As if I haven't wasted enough time writing and re-writing this I've decided to continue. I think I should be committed.**

"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but, actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff..."

-**The Doctor**_**, Doctor Who**_

**A Time Travel Fic**

Written by Marauder No. 5

**Chapter one **

Late August

Ally sighed as she leant back against the cool window of the library, grateful for the quiet solitude around her. She had been in this time for nearly three months now and she could definitely feel it taking its toll on her. When she had arrived it had been about a week before the school had let out for the summer break and she had been staying in the castle since then, there were only a few days now before the students would return.

She still remembered the night she had arrived in this time. How could she forget it? A near death experience followed by your perfect little world being changed forever would haunt anyone's sleep. Looking out the window on the sliver of moon and the few stars visible through the cloud cover she thought back to the memory of the forest below and everything that had happened since then.

(Flashback)

"Owww…my head!" She groaned, sitting up. Confused, Ally looked around and noticed where she was. She seemed to be sitting on a narrow dirt path in a forest that looked like something out of an old horror movie.

It was still night and the surrounding forest was dark, the trees were thick and close together, not the kind of Aussie bush she was used to seeing from her window at home and a blue-ish light she presumed was from the moon lit up small patches of dry, dead leaves on the forest floor around her. A cold wind blew in around the trees making Ally swear and rub at her arms to try and warm up.

_She got up and tried to brush the dirt and clinging leaves off her pyjamas, which now seemed horribly stained and brushed her hair out of her eyes. A howl echoed in the distance. __Ally __looked around again, now feeling more frightened than confused. "Where am I?" she mumbled trying to remember what had happened but she couldn't think past going to bed._

_Another howl sounded through the forest but this time it was much closer. Taking a step backwards along the path away from the howl, she turned deciding that following the path would be better than waiting for someone to find her. Wherever she ended up she felt it would be better if she were away from whatever it was that had just howled._

_After a few minutes walking __Ally __was feeling really creeped out. Unusual for someone who did a lot of night walks around the local bush areas. It was so cold it felt like winter and the summer pyjamas she had on were not helping any. She was jumping at the slightest of noises now and was really wishing she hadn't read that fanfic last night. Werewolves and vampires and the evil Dark Lord Voldemort were not a good thing to be imagining behind every tree or as the cause behind every little night sound. The forest was looking more and more like the one in the Harry Potter movie she'd seen a few weeks ago._

'_Great! Now I'm thinking about Umbitch as well!" Hissed __Ally__, as she pushed her wavy, dark brown hair away from her face before continuing down the path._

_A dog barking somewhere caught her attention and she paused listening for it. It came again and sounded as though it was heading towards her but she couldn't be sure over the wind that was still coming through the trees and whipping her hair around her face._

_After a few minutes, when she hadn't heard the dog barking a third time, she started moving again only to stop after a few metres. Something had moved behind that bush. Hoping that it was only the wind that was frightening her, she stood still. She didn't know why she felt so scared though. Huh! In the bush people only really need to worry about snakes and spiders most of which wouldn't bother you unless you went around lifting up rotting bits of wood. So why was she so scared of something that sounded too big to be a snake._

_When no more movement came from the bush she took another few steps forward until she was right next to it, at which point the bush moved again._

"_You had so better be a roo," she whispered to herself as she stood still again._

_A low growl sounded from her left followed by the sound of frenzied crashing through the undergrowth and the barking of a dog. She turned slowly so that she was facing the offending plant._

_The bush moved again and slowly a dark brown, furry head came out followed by the shoulders and front legs of a rather large animal that looked scarily similar to a wolf (the one off Van Helsing not HP3). __Ally __squeaked a chocked "eh!" and quickly took a small step back. She vaguely remembered something from a documentary saying not to run from a predator as it kind of screams 'look! I'm edible!' and if she hadn't been staring straight at something from a nightmare she would most likely have laughed. How could she run when she was finding it difficult to move even enough to breathe?_

_The crashing sound came closer and the animal, still growling lowly, turned its head slightly towards the noise before it turned back and started to slowly advance on her. __Ally __stood frozen for a few moments more looking at the saliva that dripped from the bared fangs then shuddered and took a slow step back. As whatever was crashing through the undergrowth grew closer and the wolf-like animal stalked forward, __Ally __kept moving backwards not even noticing she had gone off the side of the path until her back came up against the bark of a tree. She let out another chocked squeak and closed her eyes just before the animal came within lunging distance._

_Before it got close enough however, the something that had before been crashing through the undergrowth hurtled between the trees followed by the barking dog. __Ally __vaguely recognised the two animals but was in too much shock to try figuring out why as she watched as the stag lowered its head and charged, it antlers catching the animal still growling at her, the dog moving forward in a protective stance in front of her growling menacingly towards the two animals now fighting a few metres away, one trying to get closer to her; the other forcing it back._

_Ally __looked from the fighting animals to the dog and back again. The stag could probably be taken down by a normal wolf, despite its size and obvious strength but, against this wolf-like nightmare, the odds didn't look good. As for the dog seemingly standing guard in front of her, it might be of larger than average size but one swipe from the nightmarish animal's paw and it would likely go flying. As __Ally __thought of trying to run whilst the creature was occupied and wondering how far she'd actually get before it caught up to her, the stag gave one last, almighty push against the animal and turned swiftly throwing out its hind legs and ramming the hooves into the animals exposed shoulder. The animal yelped and ran from the path into the night without so much as a glance back at what was nearly a meal, the dog following shortly after. __Ally __stared at the undergrowth into which the two animals had vanished, unmoving and not noticing that the stag had slowly moved closer to her._

As the sound of the injured animal's flight disappeared into the distance Ally heaved in a shaky breath, her legs no longer able to hold her up she fell to her knees on the ground. Looking up she saw that the deer had come closer to her and she could now also see a long scratch down the side of its neck. Slowly getting to her feet again she edged towards the animal holding out her hand to it. The stag did not back away and only flinched slightly when she ran her hand down the side of his neck as she checked the cut. Thankfully it wasn't deep and would likely heal over naturally.

_Ally __looked towards where the wolf and dog had run and, giving the stag a last pat, she headed in the opposite direction. Hearing movement behind her she turned around slowly, her heartbeat steadily increasing, and saw that the sound was the stag following her. "Alright then." She gave him a pat on the shoulder and continued walking keeping an ear out for any more sounds that could announce the return of the wolf._

_The sun was starting to rise by the time they reached the edge of the forest. A castle stood before them, the rays of the sun turning the sandy coloured bricks golden. Looking at the beautiful scene of the castle on its well-kept grounds with a lake shimmering slightly in the distance __Ally __could only say "damn." As she had walked through the forest with the stag beside her she had thought back to their shared encounter with the wolf. She blamed the fanfiction story she had read before going to bed but she thought they could have easily been three of the famous marauders. There may have been the fourth, a little grey rat, but in the face of a werewolf, understandably the rat wouldn't have been given any notice. She had only just managed to convince herself that really, seeing people (or whatever) from a fictional book was not possible. Magic wasn't real; it only made for good stories. Now this stupid castle was destroying her neat rationalisations! There weren't any castles in Australia that she knew of and certainly none near where she lived._

_Turning to the stag standing next to her she gave him a last pat on the shoulder and looked back into the forest before turning to him again. "Thanks for your help, but I think you should go back to your friends now." He stood there looking at her for a moment longer before turning around and heading into the forest, the sunlight making a dappled effect on his dark coat._

_With a sigh __Ally __started the long trek up to the large wooden doors of the castle._

_Once inside __Ally __took a good look around. The entrance hall was massive, the ceiling lost in darkness. There was a white marble staircase in front of her with a large wooden door on either side and to her right there was a set of double doors nearly as tall as the ones she had just walked through but these were covered in a carved scene showing men in armour on horseback fighting against a dragon curled around the tower of a castle._

_Heading up the stairs she looked around at the hallways leading away from her. Along their walls was a scattering of pictures, tapestries, statues and suits of armour. Looking at the picture closest to her __Ally __gasped and took a step back. The two women in the painting were _**talking**_ to each other! She could _**hear**_ them! Taking a deep breath she took a few steps closer to the painting, "um…excuse me?" The women in the painting looked at her. "Yes dear." The elder looking of the two asked, her grey hair was piled under a frilly edged hat that was covered in flowers. "I'm looking for a professor Dumbledore. Do you know where I might find him?" __Ally __asked nervously. The talking paintings on top of what she had already seen in the last few hours were enough for her. Either she was going insane or magic was real and she wasn't in Australia anymore or even her time. "Of course dear," the old lady smiled at her, "you follow this hallway until you reach the statue of a griffin. His office is behind there." "Thank you very much" __Ally __then hurried down the hallway stopping at the statue where she realised that she had no idea of how to get in. "You couldn't just open up for me could you?" There was no sign the statue had heard her. "Damn" she said for the second time that night and then she started naming any sweet she could think of._

_She had been leaning against the wall opposite the griffin trying to think of any more wizard sweets she had read about having gone through all the non-magical ones she knew (and some made-up ones) when she heard voices coming down the hallway towards her._

_As two boys came around the corner she became horribly aware of what she was wearing. Barefoot and wearing _short_ pyjama shorts and a singlet top was okay for the heat of an Australian summer and she didn't have a bad body but still, it was very disconcerting and uncomfortable to have two undeniably cute boys checking you out. Crossing her arms in front of her chest she glared at the two boys standing in front of her. "Are you waiting for Dumbledore?" The boy wearing glasses asked her. His black hair was messy and behind his glasses she could see dark brown eyes, lowering her eyes a little she also saw a bloodstain forming on his shirt collar. Noticing where she was looking he brought his hand up and adjusted the collar so that it was hidden beneath the black robe he was wearing. "No, I'm actually trying to get in." She said bringing her eyes back up to meet his. 'Looks like I was right about those animals' she thought to herself._

"_He usually has some type of candy as the password," said the other boy. His hair was also black but tamer than the other boy's, slightly wavy and curling where it reached his shoulders behind bangs of which she could see he had light blue eyes._

"_Yes I know he does but I've tried all the ones I could think of and it still won't move." She explained, directing the last part at the griffin with an added glare._

"_Oh well last week it was lemon drops-" as he said this, the statue moved aside revealing a slowly spiralling staircase; she wanted to hit herself as she couldn't believe she hadn't said that one. "Well thanks for your help," __Ally __said as she started up the stairs. "No problem" she heard the confused sounding voice of the boy she was going to call Sirius (until proven otherwise) reply as the stairs took her around a bend._

_Knocking on the door __Ally __tried to think of what she was going to say to Dumbledore. _'Hi, I think I'm from the future and have somehow landed in a fictional world.' '_Yeah, right'. She looked up as the door opened and saw Dumbledore standing there. "What can I do for you?" he asked as he looked at her outfit before motioning her into his office. "Well my name is __Ally Page __and I think I'm from the future and am now in a book." '_Oh yeah, that was so much better._' "Perhaps you had better take a seat and we will discuss this further." He said, handing her a cloak off a coat rack behind the door and motioning her to a seat. "Tea?" Gratefully __Ally __wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and took the offered seat. "I think this conversation will call for hot chocolate if you have any." Dumbledore nodded and there was a cracking sound behind her. In her fright __Ally __jumped so far that she fell off the chair._

"_How mays I be helping you, sir?" Smiling sheepishly, __Ally __got up off the floor and sat back on the chair when she realised the little creature was likely only a house elf. "Could we have some tea and a mug of hot chocolate?" The little green creature nodded before disappearing with a crack. "Now tell me what is bothering you." As he spoke a silver tray appeared on his desk holding the drinks and a plate of biscuits._

_Ally __looked down at the cup of steaming hot chocolate now in her hands; watching the little marshmallows floating around as she thought of what to say. Suddenly everything was beginning to seem real. "Well…I woke up a few hours ago and I was in that forest out there," she gestured to the window through which you could see the tops of trees, "I have to say that it wasn't very fun walking through it in the middle off night, anyway, I followed a path and it lead me here. Now I'm in a different country, probably in a different time, in a world that shouldn't exist, in my pyjamas!" By the end she had started to get hysterical._

"_That sounds like a lot for one night but may I ask, what makes you think my dear that you are in another time?" Dumbledore asked, smiling understandingly at her. "You're not dead." She stated matter-of-factly. "What is the date anyway?"_

_After a brief pause, Dumbledore replied, "It is the third of June 1977."_

They sat there in silence while she tried to get her thoughts straight. There was a soft trilling and a rather ruffled looking bird landed on the back of her chair. Most of its feathers were missing, the rest were ruffled and stuck up at odd angles. It looked a sorry sight indeed with its head bowed low and its breathing sounding laboured.

"_Fawkes is a phoenix. It is very close to his burning day. I am sure that by the end of the week he will have become a chick again." He must have seen the expression of pity and curiosity on her face._

_Still looking at the phoenix, __Ally __asked softly "can you get me home?" Dumbledore sighed, "I'm afraid that I am not aware of anything capable of carrying you forward through time, though I will speak with my contact in the department of mysteries. I assume you have come from some distance." __Ally __nodded and answered sadly with "my mum will only be a teenager now."_

_He nodded. "Perhaps for now," said Dumbledore, "you should refrain from mentioning anything that could hint at the time you are from." He smiled gently at her, "we will have to arrange a cover story for you, but I think that can be put aside for the moment. For now, let us talk of less depressing things. I would like to test the strength of your magic. Then we may see about admitting you into the school, Miss __Page__."_

_Ally __shook her head "Just __Ally __is fine and I can't do magic."_

"_Nonsense" said Dumbledore and __Ally __looked up. "It is obvious you don't see the castle as a derelict old building which is what you would see if you were a muggle. Now come stand over here and give this wand a good swish." He said as he stood up and walked towards the middle of the room. When she reached him he held out a wand to her that he had picked up out of the draw of his desk. Not the elder wand she had read about but likely a spare as Dumbledore pulled out another from a hidden pocket in his robes. He demonstrated what he wanted her to do with it and a shower of multi-coloured sparks flew from the end of his wand. Dumbledore nodded for her to give it a try and explained that magic was in the most part intent. __Ally __took a deep breath and imagined what she wanted to happen; a shower of sparks similar to Dumbledore's but green and blue and each spark a different size and shape, then she waved the wand in an arch and a mass of the green and blue sparks of her imagination flew out before her and swirled around like a multi-coloured snow storm, albeit an unusually warm snow._

"_Very good! We certainly have room for you at Hogwarts." He smiled at her shocked expression. "My dear that was quite powerful magic. Tell me, did it come out how you expected?" __Ally __could only nod as she stared at the seemingly innocent stick of wood lying on her open palm. "Good, good." He then walked over and sat behind his desk, __Ally __took a moment before moving to her own seat and the comforting presence of Fawkes._

(End flashback)

After that Ally remembered Dumbledore going through what she would need to do to get her to a stage where she would be able to join the returning students as a seventh year. They had organised a cover for her sudden appearance and lack of magical knowledge. She would now be known as Ally Page. She would be the daughter of a friend of Dumbledore's who had been killed in one of the increasingly common raids against muggles by Lord Voldemort. Her parents had not wanted her to go to a boarding school but she had been learning from books and from an elderly witch who lived nearby during her holidays. Because her parents were old friends of Dumbledore's he offered her the chance to attend Hogwarts in England and she had accepted. If anyone asked about her accent she would just say that she had lived most of her early life in Australia before moving to England a year ago. He also suggested that her calling him Albus would help the cover. It would be strange if she called a friend of the family 'professor' or 'headmaster' all the time, after all, being _**old**_ friends of her parents she would have known him for a few years. She laughingly suggested calling him Uncle Albus occasionally and with a nod and a smile he agreed that she could.

Dumbledore had then spent most of the summer teaching her, with the help of Professor McGonagall (as strict as she was in the book with a strong Scottish accent), both practical and theoretical magic as well as starting her on Occulumency. Dumbledore thought it best to keep her true identity a secret from as many people as possible. They spent most of their time on the practical applications of magic giving her reading lists so that she could catch up in her own time. It had been a very tiring few months and by the end of the summer vacation they had her prepared to the level of a student who had just completed their sixth year of Hogwarts and she was able to block most Dumbledore's mental probes. If she continued with the exercises, he assured her that within the next few weeks she would be capable of blocking him fully and hopefully, if the worst came, Voldemort too. For the last week she had been sitting equivalent examinations for the subjects that were OWL tested.

Bringing her gaze back in from the night sky outside she looked over the piece of parchment professor Dumbledore had given her, her OWL scores.

She had received Os for potions, Herbology, DADA, transfiguration, charms and care of magical creatures, an E for Arithmancy and an A for astronomy. More subjects than a Hogwarts student was permitted to take but she was supposed to have been tutored at home. Sighing she headed out from the library to the room she was given until she was sorted into a house of her own and got herself ready for bed. Tomorrow Professor McGonagall was taking her to buy supplies for the classes she had chosen, everything else having been taken care of when she had first arrived. Crossing another day off the calendar she had made until September first came around Ally lay down and quickly drifted off to sleep.

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	2. Introductions

**Disclaimer: Don't own.**

I love quotations because it is a joy to find thoughts one might have, beautifully expressed with much authority by someone recognized wiser than oneself.  
- Marlene Dietrich

**Chapter two**

September 1st

On the first of September Ally stumbled into the great hall for breakfast. Saying her "good mornings" to the professors already seated she took her seat at the single table set up under one of the large windows of the hall and poured herself a glass of orange juice and started in on her breakfast. Conversation around the table was mostly directed towards what each staff member had planned for the year. Professor Sprout was speaking with Madam Pomfrey, who Ally had been told had only started at Hogwarts two years ago. They were talking about the Marauders, more specifically, they were betting on how many times the boys would visit the hospital wing this year. Professor Sprout bet that it would be less than 30 not counting each day of the visit as separate and Madam Pomfrey said she'd be surprised if it was any less than 42 and that if it was she'd be hunting them down to find out what ailment they were hiding from her. Across the table Professor Tolkien, who would be teaching care of magical creatures, bet both women that the boys would visit the hospital wing between 45 and 50 times. Other professors also added their bids and each was written onto a scrap piece of parchment, the winner would receive a term free of night patrols. Talk then shifted to the Christmas ball they would be holding this year. Ally had been asked not to inform the other students but she didn't mind, a ball sounded fun and from the information she had been getting from Professor Dumbledore the students (and staff) would need something to lift their spirits over the coming year.

The day after she had received her OWL scores, Dumbledore informed her that he had spoken with his contact in the Department of Mysteries who had told him that they had only just started preliminary tests for moving backwards through time and because the future wasn't set they were doubtful of the possibility of sending her home.

"_So you can't get me home?" __Ally_ _had clarified._

_Dumbledore shook his head, "I'm sorry __Ally_ _but the knowledge needed to do that isn't available to us and may not be for many years to come._

_She took a deep breath, "Then I'm going to change things."_

"_You can't possibly mean that my dear," Dumbledore said in a grandfatherly voice. "Think of what can go wrong, how many more people could die from one minor change. You know you don't have the right to decide their futures for them. Just leave it to fate." He finished with a smile meant to put her at ease._

_All through his little speech she had been getting more and more angry. "There are only three things I have to say to that Albus," she ground out. "One: I can't get the thoughts of what could go wrong out of my head so you don't need to remind me about that; two: 'I don't have the right' I seem to remember you once thought you knew what was best for everyone. And three: I don't believe in fate but if I did it wouldn't change my mind because fate will do what it wants with or without my input. At least this way I have a chance of making things better." Her voice had risen as she spoke but she finished with the last sentence barely audible._

_They sat in an uncomfortable silence until, after the minutes had ticked by, Dumbledore broke it by saying softly, still with his grandfatherly voice, "I see your mind is made up," she nodded, "but why come to me?"_

"_If I'm going to stay in this time I'm going to need help. I have no money, nowhere to stay… no past." She paused before looking up, "and there are some things that I'm just not going to be able to do alone."_

"_May I ask what kinds of things?" Dumbledore asked looking concerned._

"_I haven't planned very much out yet but, for starters, Voldemort will need to be taken down before the summer of 1979 or else we will have more corpses then we'll know what to do with."_

"_That leaves us with about a year and a half! Why would that date make any difference? Who will die that you think could change what will happen so drastically?" he appeared more concerned now._

"_It's not who dies, Dumbledore, but who has to die. You see you'll be interviewing someone for the divination position and, well she's a total fraud but she makes a real prediction, '__**The**__ Prophecy' as it gets referred to later," __Ally __paused realising that she had started to rant. "The point is that it says that 'the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord will be born as the seventh month dies', 'neither can live whilst the other survives' and other rubbish and a death eater overhears the first bit and runs of to tell his master and…and…" __Ally __trailed off staring into space at a spot to the right of the window. Her forehead wrinkled as she got up and started to pace the floor._

"_And tells his master…but what if he doesn't tell, if he never hears it to begin with." She flopped down onto the floor and, sitting with her legs crossed and her chin in one hand, __Ally __started thinking about her plans in more detail but to be more precise what had to happen if they wanted to get the bastard for good._

_Dumbledore just sat at his desk and waited patiently until she had finished, smiling a little when she started tapping her fingers against her knee. After ten minutes had passed with no sign of her being ready to talk and no movements save the slight changes in the pace she was tapping her fingers, Dumbledore decided to continue with the papers he had been reading before he was interrupted._

"_Forget what I said before." He looked up in surprise. __Ally __had gotten up off the floor and was standing in front of his desk. "He has made Horcruxes but I don't know the dates of when he hid or even made most of them but I do know where all but one are on October 31__st__ 1981. So I think we should wait until then before we try knocking him off."_

"_What about this prophecy. You said it had been made before that."_

"_Yes I know but if Sn-that death eater doesn't hear it he can't tell his master so we will be the only ones who know and…well, problem solved."_

"_How does that help us? Once the prophecy is made we can't kill him, only the one named will be able to."_

"_I've already said that I don't believe in this kind of stuff that much. For instance, I was thinking it over, seeing if it could work another way based off a different interpretation. You came up with the first July after the prophecy was made and you saw two wizard boys from prominent families and so did Voldemort. There are so many things wrong with that but we won't go into it now. Neither of you seemed to think that it might be the next or 100 years from now with a different dark lord or that it might not be a wizard at all. Fanfic writers did a lot with the line 'power he knows not', all sorts of muggle technology was written into it-" Dumbledore cut her off._

"_-Perhaps you had better tell me the whole prophecy now before we continue because I'm afraid I have no idea about most of what you are saying." __Ally __grinned sheepishly before continuing._

"_Um… the one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the dark lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the dark lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…" Dumbledore stood up when she had finished and walked over to where Fawkes was sitting on his perch preening his feathers._

"_Do you know who the boy will be?" He asked turning back to look at her. Any anger __Ally __still felt from before was pushed aside when she saw how old he looked standing there._

"_I know who you and Voldemort will think it is. But this prophesy can be interpreted a different way. As I said, it might not mean this dark lord it might even have been a dark lord from years ago I read somewhere that true seers see and predict the future, the present __**and**_ _the past. You could also branch it out a little and still have it make sense." Now Dumbledore looked old and confused. "'Born as the seventh month dies', now let's see, July is the seventh month, which was named after Julius Caesar and he was killed, so he died on the Ides of March which was the 15__th__ of March, so it could mean someone born on the 15__th__ of March the day 'July' died. It could mean someone whose name is July or like in a calendar we got once that had a different fireman for each month it might mean a Mr or Miss July. And who knows what kind of calendar these people go by, a lot of months have been added and changed around, hell, October used to be the eighth month so we could be going by that." Dumbledore had moved back over to sit down at his desk while she ranted. "See, it could really be anyone, anywhere, anytime. We really have no way of knowing. With Harry it wasn't even so much him being equal as just him being a potential threat and targeted first. I wouldn't have been surprised if Voldemort had gone after the other boy as well if circumstances had allowed."_

_Dumbledore was silent for a moment as he absorbed all of this, he knew she had a point and it seemed so obvious to him now that he wondered why he didn't think of it then and if he did why he didn't chose to act differently. "Hindsight would be much better served if we had it before acting."_

"_Then it wouldn't be called hindsight, besides, where is the fun in knowing everything. My Pop liked to say that we don't learn if we don't make mistakes." He smiled slightly, the twinkle coming back into his eyes._

"_He sounds to me like a very wise man."_

"_He was." __Ally __looked down sadly. "Anyway, I have planning to do and according to my stomach it must be nearly dinner time."_

"_Yes it has just started." He said as they both stood up. "I will see what I can do about funding for any plans you might come up with, as for accommodation, I do not see why you can't stay here until you work out something else."_

"_Or I die pursuing this. But thank you for the offer." Her stomach growled again as they were going out the door._

"_Do you really believe it will come to that?"_

"_Come to death. Yes, I think there is a very real possibility that I won't live through this. Voldemort is not an idiot. People underestimated Hitler and look what happened with him. I've been reading that trash calling itself a newspaper and nobody seems overly concerned that there are a number of mass murderers on the loose."_

"_Things were much simpler in my day, oh I remember that…" __Ally __couldn't help but wonder which subject she least wanted to talk about as she and the headmaster walked the route to the great hall for dinner, impending, painful deaths or the 'old days'? So she just smiled and nodded at the appropriate moments._

With this information, Allyhad decided to share parts of what she knew with Dumbledore and had been inducted into the order of the phoenix the night before. She was not to tell anyone '_obviously_' and Dumbledore would let her know whenever there would be a meeting. The other members of the order had not been happy to have a seventeen year old in the order and the information she gave made them more suspicious than anything else. She had given them names of people that should be watched closely and that Voldemort had tied himself to the world of the living. When asked to elaborate she had said that it was only information she could give to Dumbledore. It wasn't that she didn't trust any of them…actually who was she kidding, of course it was and she had told them as much. She had met Arthur and Molly Weasley, their eldest son Bill would be starting Hogwarts this year, Alastor Moody whose nose was intact but he already had the spinning blue eye, and Adam and Marissa Potter as well as others.

After breakfast Allyheaded to her room to make sure everything was packed and ready for the elves to move to the dorm room she was sorted into. After picking up her robe from the back of a chair and leaving a thankyou note on the top of her trunk for the elves, she left the room for the library. Professor McGonagall had already told her that she expected the same standard of work from Allywhen classes resumed and Allythought she might spend today rereading the course books for the classes she had signed up for; Potions, Herbology, DADA, Transfiguration, Charms and Care of Magical Creatures.

Closing her book 'Caring for creatures' Allystretched out on the window seat and looked out of the window, her stomach growling at her. Darkness had fallen and she could see the lanterns swinging from the sides of the carriages as they trundled up the long castle driveway. Sighing, she stretched once more and, tucking the book underneath her arm, she headed down to the room next to great hall where Professor McGonagall would bring the first years.

It wasn't long before a group of frightened looking eleven year olds were ushered in and told to straighten themselves up. Smiling kindly at a little boy with red hair, Allymoved forward to help him with his tie. "Thankyou" he said looking up at her after she had finished talking him through it.

"It was my pleasure. I'm Allyby the way." She held out her hand to him.

"Bill Weasley." He shook her hand nervously and she gave him another smile.

She was just helping a girl with her tie when a scream sounded from over near the wall. Allyturned with her wand in her hand, she had been trying to improve her reflexes over the summer and was getting much better, but she only saw a bunch of scared faces watching as a group of ghosts flew over their heads. "Ah Miss Page." a ghost with a ruffed collar called out when he saw her, "The sorting always comes so quickly. It seems like only yesterday this was happening with the last lot of youngsters." He gave her a smile.

"Hello Nick." She smiled back but before she could continue a conversation with him Professor McGonagall returned to escort them into the hall and the ghosts flew ahead of them, passing through a wall.

Allyhad been informed that she would be sorted first so as to limit the amount of 'kerfuffle', as Dumbledore put it, that the students would raise seeing someone her age in line with the first years. She stood at the front of the line behind McGonagall as the hat on its three-legged stool began to sing. When the hat had finished Dumbledore stood up to announce to the school that AllyPage would be starting in her seventh year as a transfer student for personal reasons and that he hoped she would be welcomed by the other students into the school. When he sat down Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a rolled up scroll of parchment and called out "Page, Ally".

Allysat on the stool with her book in her lap and put the patched hat on her head, trying to ignore the stares and whispers of the students. "Well, well, well." The hat said into her ear. "I have never had a time traveller to sort before. How very interesting. You have brains. Six years of schooling in three months. Hmm…Ravenclaw would suit you very well. No? Well then, if you're sure. Cunning and bravery. Good luck on your plans by the way, changing things will not be easy." _'Letting things continue this way wouldn't be easy either'_ "I agree. Prepared to stand up for what you believe. Hmm…I think I'll place you in…GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called out to the hall and a table to the right burst into applause, one boy giving a loud wolf whistle.

Smiling she picked up her book and placed the hat back on the stool heading down to the Gryffindor table. She chose a seat a few spots down from the boy who had whistled and, seeing it was one of the boys she had met her first day here, _Sirius_, she returned his smile which made his widen, then shook her head with a grin when he waggled his eyebrows at her. She turned instead to watch the rest of the sorting clapping with everyone else and making room next to her for Bill when he was sorted into Gryffindor so that he was between her and another first year boy. He smiled at her when he sat down and she gave him a pat on the back. After Dumbledore had made his opening speech where he introduced the new DADA teacher, Professor Alba, and the food appeared she was introduced to the Gryffindors around her.

"Hi." A girl with dark red hair smiled from the seat across from her. "I'm Lily Evans. I'm a seventh year too. You'll be sharing a room with me and Alice Phenners you'll meet her later she sits with her boyfriend at meals."

"AllyPage." Lily smiled at her again and started to introduce the boys that were sitting around them.

"Well these are the boys. They are all in our year. McGonagall called them marauders and the name kind of stuck. The one next to you is Remus Lupin," she gestured to the pale boy on her left who had sandy hair and amber eyes. He gave her a smile and held out his hand to her.

"Nice to meet you" he said. Allysmiled and nodded.

Lily continued, "That's Peter Pettigrew next to him" Allyoffered the small, chubby boy a smile and said to herself_ 'he's not a bad guy yet so remember not to treat him like it'_. "This is my boyfriend James Potter" the boy in question gave Lily a wink and wrapped an arm around her waist. "And that" she jerked her thumb at the boy sitting on James' right "is no-one of importance" the boy gave Lily an affronted look that didn't quite work with his lips twitching into a smile.

"Sirius Black at your service, my fair lady" he stood and swept her a little bow.

Allysmirked; "We've met." they all looked at her confused. "Outside Professor Dumbledore's office before the holidays started." She rolled her eyes when James and Sirius continued to look at her blankly. "You helped me with the password." She could actually see it in their faces as the memory dawned on them; the expression was exactly the same on both boys but the others still looked confused at what was going on, though Remus had a slightly thoughtful and almost fearful look on his face.

"That was you!" Allyblushed slightly as a few heads turned towards them at Sirius' outburst and the choking sound coming from Remus. Turning so she could give the even paler Remus a good pat on the back she answered Sirius with a smile, "of course not. It was a hot pink rabbit and you were both imagining things." The others all laughed at this and colour started to return to Remus' face.

"Wait that was last year" said James. "If you were here then why are you only being sorted now?" Allywas ready for this. She stopped eating and instead began moving things around the plate with her fork. She didn't need to fake the sad expression. She still really missed being back at home but the story she had worked out with Dumbledore would be the one they got instead.

"It was just after my parents died." She said after a pause. "Their funeral was the day after I met you. I've been staying here with Professor Dumbledore since then."

"With Dumbledore? Why?" asked Peter.

"He was an old friend of my step-father and offered me a chance to come here. Before that I was learning magic at home and before you ask about my accent, I've spent most of my life in Australia we only moved here for dad's work a year ago."

"So are both your parents magical or just your dad?" asked Sirius. _What an unexpectedly pure-blooded question,_ thought Ally.

"Just my step-dad and maybe an aunt. I've never met her but mum said that when they were little odd things used to happen, the same things, she said, I used to do. I've no idea about my birth father. He walked out on mum and me when I was two." Allystabbed at the sausage on her plate. She had decided that where possible she would tell the truth about her past so she would be less likely to slip up. This wasn't something she wanted everyone to know about but she had tried to hide it before and always managed to make a slip. The whole magic bit was a lie though since she had no idea if anyone in her family could do what she had over few months. "But I got a far better dad instead of him when mum remarried."

"So Ally, what is your favourite class" Remus asked to change the subject and she was glad he did. Allylooked up and gave him a small smile in thanks before answering, "I like potions best I think, followed by the practical side of defence against the dark arts."

"I think professor Roach will change that your first class with her," said Lily. "I'm good at potions but I just don't enjoy being in that class." She admitted. Allynodded; she had met Professor Roach last week when the witch had returned to the school after holidaying in France. She wasn't exactly a nasty person but she did demand excellence and dedication in her subject.

Talk continued on as the group got to know each other better before the school was sent off to their dorms for "a good night's sleep" as Dumbledore put it. Tired and with full stomachs they all headed up to their rooms after giving the portrait of the fat lady the password which was 'Lion Pride'. Allydidn't take the time to look around the room but rather fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	3. Classes

**Disclaimer: If I owned this you would not be reading it here.**

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking.  
- Jerry Seinfeld

**Chapter three**

September 2nd

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!" Ally gave Lily another poke.

"Go'way, 's too early," Lily mumbled into her pillow. Ally sighed this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought. "Lily, it is eight o'clock and if you do not get up right now you are going to be late for class." A groan came from the pillow and Lily slowly dragged herself into a sitting position.

"When did you get up?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"6:30. I've already been for a run and started on some studying," Ally said as she started putting books into her bag. "I'm an early bird. Oh, and Alice left about 15 minutes ago. Something about 'quality alone time with Frank before breakfast'" with a sigh Lily got out of bed and started getting ready for the day.

By the time they reached the great hall most of the students had already arrived and they went to take their seats with the Marauders. '_Oh I could have a lot of fun with this'_ thought Ally. "Morning James, boys," Lily said as she sat down next to James and gave him a quick kiss. Ally nodded to them and sat down in the only other available place between Sirius and Remus.

"What? I'm hungry." Ally said to the looks she was getting off both boys. After she had sat down she had immediately started to fill her plate with an assortment of the different breakfast foods available and began eating in a steady rhythm.

"It's just I've never seen someone else eat like James and Sirius." Remus replied going back to his own meal with a smile. He looked over at Sirius who had part of a pancake hanging from his mouth with maple syrup dripping from the bottom edge. "Okay so maybe not _exactly_ like James and Sirius."

"Here is your timetable. Miss Page, if you need to talk about anything my door is always open." Ally nodded as Professor McGonagall handed her the slip of parchment.

"What classes are you taking Ally." Lily looked over at her.

"Um…" she looked down at her timetable. "Potions, Herbology, DADA, Transfiguration, Charms and Care of Magical Creatures"

"Really? Those are the same classes we have, well except Peter; he didn't get the marks for Potions or Transfiguration." James said as he peered over his girlfriend's shoulder. "Look we have Potions first then Care of Magical Creatures and Defence Against the Dark Arts today."

"We'd better go if we want to get to Potions on time" said Lily as she stood up, dragging James and Sirius up with her.

"But Lily we're not finished!" Whined Sirius, looking longingly at his plate of food then at Ally's remaining mountain of scrambled eggs. "What are you doing?" He asked as Ally scooped the mountain onto a piece of toast and made it into a sandwich with another slice.

"Now I can walk and eat!" She explained to the stunned boy with a smile. A grin appeared on Sirius' face as he copied Ally, though he added some sausage and a pancake drizzled in maple syrup. "That is disgusting. I can't believe you just put a pancake in there." She got a goofy grin in response.

Having taken their seats in the dungeon classroom, with Ally sharing a table with Remus and Lily, James and Sirius sitting at the table behind them, the group talked as they waited for Professor Roach. "I can't believe we have Potions with those slimy snakes again this year." Ally decided to give the boys next to her a confused look even though she knew what they were talking about.

"They mean the Slytherins," offered Remus.

"You need to watch out for them, they all believe that crap about blood purity and are probably going to join the death eaters the second they leave school, if they haven't already." Sirius was scowling at the group on the other side of the room.

Ally knew he was right about some of them, a lot of the names she had given to the order were actually in this year group, but she wasn't going to let him become as prejudiced and fanatical as she knew his future self to be. _Change attempt: 1,_ she thought to herself. "Now Sirius, I'm sure that they aren't all bad. What makes you think they're going to be death eaters?"

Sirius, it appeared, was stunned that she hadn't automatically agreed with him, his mouth opening and closing. "Well they're…they're…I just know alright." He settled with.

Ally gave him a long look before replying. "That's not a good enough reason Sirius. I think you need to take a good look at your prejudices." Sirius opened his mouth to say something but before he could put his foot in his mouth the professor came into the room. She was a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair, which she kept in a fancy styled knot. Instead of the usual style of robes worn by the staff, Professor Roach wore something similar to a scientist's lab coat but in a dark blue.

"Right class," she snapped as walked to stand in front of her desk, "this is a NEWT level subject and I expect nothing less out of you than an O average. You should all be aware of how important this year is to your futures and any improper behaviour," she looked directly at the Marauders, "will be met with swift removal from my class. Now, we are going to be doing things differently this year. I am going to assign you all a partner and a seat. These seating arrangements will stand until I decide otherwise." She then went through a list and pointed each student to his or her new seat. "Black, Lupin and Potter I want you up the front, take that table. Miss Fritz, Miss Evans, there. Mr Snape you will be partnering Miss Page and you can take that table as well." As the professor continued to assign the seats Ally and Lily picked up their things and moved so they were sitting together at the table with the other girl, a Slytherin who Lily introduced as Emily Fritz. The marauders were sitting at the table in front of them. Ally was very pleased with herself, she had needed to get close to Snape and had organised with the professor to have a fixed seating arrangement. It had of course meant revealing to her that she was from the future…details, details.

When Snape sat down next to her he was in the process of returning Sirius' glare. Ally gave him a smile and stuck out her hand when he turned to her, his glare still in place. "I'm Ally Page."

"Snape." Ally looked at him expectantly but when nothing further was added she continued herself, "just Snape or do you have a first name to go with that." She gave him a small smile. He paused in unpacking his books and looked to her again, "Severus." She gave him another smile then looked towards the professor.

"The potion you will be brewing today may be included in your final NEWT exams. This is a difficult potion to brew correctly and I doubt that any of you can pull it off on your first attempt. The ingredients being used are highly volatile if mixed incorrectly so please be careful." She then went on to explain the properties of each ingredient and the purpose for each step. "Your instructions are on the board and you are to continue with this until the end of the lesson."

After copying down the instructions into a workbook she had bought especially for this class she looked over and saw that Snape was making notes in the margins around his written instructions. "I'll get the ingredients if you want to set up," she said to him and he nodded. Getting up she walked over to the ingredients cupboard and pulled out everything they would need. She knew where everything would be as she had used this classroom with professor Dumbledore for her potion lessons. Walking back to the desk she noticed that Snape had finished setting up the equipment and was just starting to light a fire underneath the cauldron. "That needs to be cold for the first steps." She told him as she carefully deposited the ingredients onto the table.

Without looking up Snape replied, "this will decrease the time it will take to finish the potion."

"Be that as it may Mr Snape I would prefer that you follow the instructions I have given you," snapped the professor from behind them as she extinguished the flame.

Snape's pale skin gained the slightest pink tinge. "Yes ma'am." He muttered and Ally could see James and Sirius smirking at him from the table in front.

"I know what I am doing," he snapped at Ally after the professor had moved on.

"I'm sorry, but if you had put the raspwort and the mora solution in when it was hot the mix would have exploded."

"I didn't plan on following the steps in the same order." He glared at her as he paused in the cutting up of a rabbit's liver.

"And why not? Weren't you listening when the professor said they could be volatile if mixed incorrectly?" She pulled his notated instructions over so that she could see what he had written. The Harry Potter books said he made notes in his textbook and, as she suspected, these were roughly the same thing (minus the spell notes). After skimming over them she looked up to see Snape alternately glaring at her and trying to get the parchment back and trading insults with James and Sirius. Handing him back the notes she gained his attention and spoke. "I will agree Severus that these _**theories**_," she put a lot of emphasis on the word, "have merit and I think it would be interesting to test them, however this is not the time to do so. We can ask the professor to supervise us later if you still want to test them with this potion but until then I would rather stay out of the hospital wing." Ally ended with a smile and then continued preparing the ingredients while Snape, Lily, Emily and the Marauders starred at her. After a brief moment they all went back to their ingredients. The lesson continued with relative silence between Ally and Snape as they worked on their potion and at the end of the lesson, though they didn't have a long enough amount of time in which to complete it, the potion samples they handed in were consistent with what was expected of a professional potion at that stage of brewing.

"Good work. I expect results like this every lesson Miss Page. Mr Snape if I could have a word." The professor said as the last of the students filed out of the classroom.

"Actually professor," Ally began, shooting a concerned glace towards Snape to check his reaction. "Severus had some really good ideas on how this potion might be improved" the professor's eyebrow went up, "and I was hoping that you would be able to supervise us as we test his theories," she glanced at Snape again "if that's alright with him of course."

The professor looked thoughtfully at them both for a moment. "Very well Miss Page. If it is agreeable to Mr Snape I will consider your request. I will need to speak with the Headmaster about this, as it can be extremely dangerous, though from your owl marks Miss Page, and comments made by the Headmaster I do not foresee this as being a problem. Now, Mr Snape, however talented you may be in the art of potion making I do not want you _experimenting_ in my class without my knowledge. Do I make myself clear?" Snape nodded but remained silent. "Very well. I will let you know of the arrangements for this testing. If you no longer wish to pursue this," she looked directly at Snape as she finished, "you are to inform me as soon as possible. I do not want to be wasting my time organising this if you are not prepared to give full participation." The professor straightened some papers and stood up from her desk. Ally took this as her cue to leave.

"Thank you for your time professor, I'm really looking forward to this." She gave a small smile to Snape, picked up her things and moved towards the door, turning as she reached it to see if he was following.

"Continue on to class I still have something I wish to speak to Mr Snape about."

Ally nodded, "yes professor." As she turned the corner in the hallway she was startled when she bumped into someone and would have fallen had they not caught her. Looking up as the 'someone' set her back on her feet she asked "Sirius? Remus? I thought you'd left already."

The boys blushed slightly. "Well" said Remus, "we were waiting in the entrance hall for you. We weren't sure if you knew were to go for the next class. When you didn't follow us up from the dungeons we got a little worried."

"Did Snape or those other Snakes give you any trouble?" asked Sirius, giving her a concerned look then glaring down the dungeon hallway as though that simple act would vaporise every Slytherin within the dungeons.

"No, I'm fine. Severus and I were just talking to the professor about a sort of extra credit thing."

"Since when was it _Severus_?" Sirius almost spat the word.

Ally pretended to look thoughtful. _**'This could be going better,'**_ she thought to herself. _**'Must diffuse situation.'**_ "I'm not sure. Probably since his parents started calling him Severus. He seems to have had that name for a while anyway. Well, we had better get a move on if we don't want to be late for class." And with that she started out the doors and towards an open grassy area with a corral set up.

Meanwhile back in the potions classroom…

"I know you prefer to work alone on assignments Severus, but as you may have noticed there was no-one else suitable to partner Miss Page with. Dumbledore has informed me that he believes she has shown great potential in this subject and after today I am inclined to agree with him. You both worked well together this morning and I would like for the two of you to work on this little assignment together. However, as they are your notes the choice is up to you." Professor Roach had moved around the side of the desk and was now leaning back against it as she watched the young man in front of her as he thought over her words.

"I would like to test my theories professor but I'm not sure I can work with a Gryffindor."

"Yes well, as your head of house it is my duty to promote inter-house co-operation, though I would suggest you refrain from speaking to any of your house mates about this. I will also ask Miss Page to keep it to herself as well if that would make you more comfortable."

"Thankyou Professor. Can I think about it and get back to you later?"

"Of course my boy, but please don't leave it to long." Severus nodded to his professor and left the room, heading to his next class deep in thought.

Professor Tolkien called the assembled students, a group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, over to the fence of the corral. "This being your NEWT level class we will be working with several of the more dangerous magical species. This means that you will need to pay close attention to the instructions you are given. Today we will be learning about a species known as runespoors." He stepped over to a large crate and opened the lid. "Hagrid was kind enough to hatch these for us. Now as they are only a few days old they have yet to develop any poison in their glands." He held up a snake about the size of the length of his arm from wrist to elbow. There was one feature that Ally could easily distinguish to set it apart from other snakes; this one had three heads. The professor continued, "fortunately we have enough for you to all work in pairs with one hatchling between you. Who can tell me an important piece of information regarding the handling of runespoors? Miss Page?" The professor turned at her raised hand.

"They don't like it when you pick them up or move with them too quickly and they don't like it when only one head gets the food." Ally recalled from the book she had been reading yesterday.

"That's right, five points to Gryffindor. Now if everyone could please pair up then come and collect a hatchling." James and Lily paired up, with Lily hiding behind James as he picked up the snake, while Remus and Peter decided to be partners. This left Ally alone with Sirius.

"Do not fear fair maiden" Sirius exclaimed as he smiled and bowed with a flourish to her. "I shall protect you from this evil creature of darkness." Ally smirked as the colour left Sirius face. The box only had one runespoor left and it appeared to have taken offence to Sirius' name calling.

"What is it with you and snakes Sirius." Ally asked him as she leant down and gently scooped up the baby snake. "I don't see how this can be an evil creature of anything. He's just a little baby." And with that she walked over to a clear patch of grass, sat down and started on the professor's class assignment, drawing the runespoors and adding any relevant information gathered by watching them.

"I still can't see why you call him Severus." Sirius sat down next to her looking thoroughly confused.

"And I can't understand why you think calling him 'Snivillus' is okay. Yes I know about that." She added when she saw his shocked look at her use of the name. "He may come across as anti-social and a bit rude but that is not an excuse to use degrading comments. Not to a person and certainly not to a little baby like this one who hasn't done anything wrong." Ally returned to her work and lavishing the little runespoor with attention while she ignored Sirius, letting him think about what she had said.

At the end of the class the students returned the snakes to their crate, Ally going last as she wanted to give the little animal a bit more attention. As she put it back in the crate she noticed that where the others were dark green, hers looked blacker in colour with traces of the dark green showing up in the sunlight.


	4. Subtle

**Disclaimer: As we have already established that I do not own Harry Potter or anything else recognisable from this story, apart from my own twisted imagination put into words, I'm going to have a bit of fun with this. After all, I don't think you want to read a boringly ordinary disclaimer every time you start a chapter, do you. Do you? You'll have to leave a review and let me know. *hint*hint***

Why is this thus? What is the reason for this thusness?

**Artemus Ward**

**Chapter four**

Ally had really been looking forward to the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. She had been helping Professor Alba to organise her lesson plans over the last few weeks of the summer holiday. She was a young professor, only 31. She was an attractive woman who kept her light brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail and preferred to wear more fitted robes than those commonly chosen by the other staff. Professor Alba and Professor Flitwick had been the ones to start teaching Ally how to duel over the last weeks of the holiday break before she sat for her exams. In this lesson, Ally knew, the Professor had plans to start a class duel that would last a few lessons. A few days ago she had helped to transfigure a duelling platform in the larger classroom they would be using.

So after lunch the group including the Marauders, Lily and Ally entered the room and took their seats. The professor came in with a roll of parchment in one hand, a hat full of small pieces of parchment in the other and a pencil behind her ear and stood in front of the class. "Good morning class. For the first few lessons this year we're going to be doing a bit of practical duelling. I want to get to know what stage each of you is at in terms of defending yourself. It is no secret that outside of the walls of Hogwarts there is a danger brewing." She looked solemnly at the students. "It is part of my duty as your Defence Professor to prepare you for what awaits you out there. I need to know that you will be able to defend yourselves."

"But professor, the death eaters and the dark lord; how can we possibly hope to win in a fight against them?" Asked one girl.

"That is what I hope to teach you this year." said the Professor. She looked at her seventh-years; a class made up of a mix from all four houses and continued. "Something you will hopefully learn in this class is how to work _with_ each other. Later in the year I hope to get you to the point where you are able to defend against two or more attackers at the same time and to use teamwork; watching each other's backs. There is also quite a bit of material we need to cover to get you ready for your NEWTS. I'll warn you now that I expect each and every one of you to do some background reading on each subject that we cover. You never know when there will be a surprise test. Now for today's lesson we are going to need to move to the room next door. You can leave your bags in here just be sure to bring your wands." With that the Professor stood and led them out to the other classroom.

"Now, I have put each of your names in this hat so that the draw of duellists will be random. When I call your name you will step up on this platform, bow to your opponent and assume a duelling stance. On my count of three you will begin the duel. Please, nothing that will cause lasting damage. I don't want to have to send anyone to the hospital wing today." She leant over and puled two slips of parchment from the hat she had placed on the desk. "The winner of each match will go back into the hat to face someone else at a later stage and I will be making notes on everyone's performance. Emily Fritz and Frank Longbottom, you are up first."

"Good luck Frank." Alice whispered to him as he let go of her hand and walked up to the platform.

"On three!" called the Professor. "Ready…one…two…three!"

Frank struck first with '_Expelliarmus_' but Emily blocked his attack using a well-cast shield. He struck out again with an 'Expelliarmus' but this time he also aimed a jelly-legs jinx under the shield she created to stop the first spell. With Emily on the ground unable to control her legs, Frank easily disarmed her and was announced the winner.

"Alright, up next are Severus Snape and Peter Pettigrew. Duelling positions please," called Professor Alba as she quickly jotted down a few notes about the first duel. "On my count, one, two...three!"

Peter was shaking so badly that he was disarmed in the first second and a scowling Snape was the pronounced the winner as he stalked over to his seat and sat down ignoring the glares from James and Sirius. From her seat behind Snape and two other Slytherins, Ally was able to overhear a comment made by a boy to Snape. "That was pathetic Snape. The squib couldn't even cast a _shield_ quick enough. It's not like you didn't give him plenty of time to do it either." She wasn't very used to the kind of talk where people said one thing but meant another but she was still able to see that this boy was insulting Snape's duelling skills as much as he was Peter's. Snape seemed to know what he was saying to because he clenched his fists and a little colour showed on his pallid cheeks.

The next several duels were similar to that of Frank and Emily's in which, though the duel didn't last long, very few people used anything other than a shield and '_Expelliarmus_'. Then it was Ally's turn.

"Ah Miss Page. You will be duelling Jeremiah Flint." Ally stood noting that her opponent would be none other than the Slytherin boy who had been mocking Snape and Peter. "Ready; one, two…three!"

Ally cast a basic shield that easily blocked the poorly aimed '_Expelliarmus_'. Without retaliating she calmly blocked or sidestepped each of his attacks. After what was only a minute, she slowly raised her wand and cast an _Expelliarmus_ at him. Flint blocked her spell but as he removed the shield a well-placed stunner to the chest knocked him out. After the Professor had called out that she had won she walked over to where Flint was laying sprawled out on his back, his wand a metre to his right where it had rolled after he had fallen.

"Enervate." Flint just lay there looking at the hand she had offered him before he rolled onto his hands and knees and stood up ignoring her offer of assistance. "You know next time you should try using a shield. It's not like I didn't give you plenty of time to do it either." She threw his words from before back at him but quietly enough that no one else would hear it before walking off the stage and taking her seat.

"Very good work Miss Page, Mr Flint. Now who is next?" asked Professor Alba as she pulled two more names from the hat.

Two more duels later, the first between two Hufflepuffs and the second between a Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, the class was dismissed and everyone started heading towards the great hall for dinner.

"I can't wait until tomorrow!" Sirius was grinning. "I hope we get to go first!"

"Yeah. It's too bad that Snape's already been. I suppose we might fight him next round though." James was only slightly paying attention to what he was saying as Lily had most of his attention. Peter's face flushed and he put his head down at the mention of Snape and the duel.

"Don't worry Peter," said Sirius, as he threw an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders, "we'll get Snivillus back for that duel."

"You most certainly will not Sirius Black" Lily had turned away from the whispered conversation she'd been having with James to glare at Sirius.

"Lily's right Sirius; He won that duel fairly." Ally had stopped and was now looking him in the eye.

Sirius looked shocked, probably because someone other than Lily had defended Snape in front of him. "Since when have Slytherins played fairly?"

"And he didn't even give Peter a chance to defend himself." James was siding with Sirius.

Inwardly amused at how James had said the exact opposite as the Slytherin boy, Flint, Ally continued. "In a duel if you can't defend yourself fast enough you are going to lose." Here she turned to Peter._ He's not a murderer yet and likely not a death eater; Just as Snape doesn't seem to be a totally evil bastard yet either._ She reminded herself. "You just need to work on it a little." She told him, and then with a smile and wink she added. "And with a bit more practice I'm sure you'll be able to disarm these over-confident idiots in your sleep." Here she sat down next to Lily at the Gryffindor table.

"_Over_-confident!" exclaimed Sirius, causing a few heads to turn their way. James looked as though he wanted to say something as well.

"You did great against that Slytherin though Ally." Put in Remus as he tried to avoid the boys' egos causing a scene in the great hall.

"Great? I used a stunner, a shield and a disarming spell. It was hardly _great_. A death eater could have taken me out no problem."

"But you did so well in your duel!" exclaimed Peter.

"Perhaps, but it was against someone who didn't seem to have had a lot of prior experience and his ego wasn't helping him much either. I read a book on duelling when Professor Alba first mentioned that she was planning on a duel for class. In a proper duel what I did would not be considered good form; the whole sidestepping bit and letting him cast all the spells."

"Then why did you do it?" asked Peter.

"Well, and I know it wasn't the best course of action, but everyone I saw was only using disarming spells and shields. I had no real reason to think that he would do anything different-"

"He was a Slytherin! You're lucky he didn't use any dark curses on you!" Sirius sent a dark look towards their table.

"Sirius, if you interrupt me to say something like that again you'll be lucky if don't use a dark curse on you." Ally snapped at him. "That wasn't the reason I duelled like that either."

Now everyone looked confused. Peter asked her again why she did do it, which was lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you look at it) for them because Ally was getting so frustrated with Sirius' prejudiced comments that she would likely have left it there and not continued without being asked.

With a sigh she put down her fork and looked at the boys, Sirius was still glancing darkly toward the Slytherins. _What have I gotten myself into?_ She thought to herself, then she spoke aloud to the others, "I was sitting behind that boy and after Severus finished the duel with Peter and sat down next to him. Flint wasn't it? Yes, well he started saying things about the duel. About how Peter couldn't raise a shield properly," here the boys all glared at the Slytherin table trying to locate Flint. "Oh stop it already. He insulted Peter I know but his remarks were actually directed at Severus." This got their attention.

"What do you mean? He couldn't have been insulting him. Snape doesn't let those kinds of things drop." Remus said.

"It wasn't as though it was subtle and he wasn't exactly quiet when he said it, but I got his meaning and I'm certain Severus did too from the look he gave the boy. He was implying that Severus had poor duelling skills. I'm not sure that he was even aware that he'd insulted Peter." She gave the boy mentioned a brief smile before turning back to the others and resuming what she had first started to say. "That's why I didn't take him out in the beginning of the duel. He basically said that Severus was pathetic because it took him so long to win. I just showed him that he wasn't any better and at the end I got to throw his words back in his face, which was strangely satisfying." Ally smiled slightly at the thought.

"Where did you learn to duel like that? Surely that old lady wasn't much help?" asked James.

"Hey! Mrs Lester was a great teacher." Ally exclaimed, using the name of her favourite primary school teacher. "She may not have been able to teach me how to duel, but she showed me how to do a lot of great spells."

"Then who did teach you?" asked Sirius.

Still feeling a little defensive over her made up old neighbour, Ally answered him shortly, "Professor Dumbledore gave me a few lessons whenever he came to visit and Professor Alba helped me with it a little when she came to the school last month." With that she picked up her fork and continued to eat.

"What do you want Snivillus?" Ally looked up and turned around at Sirius' remark and saw that all four of the marauders had their hands on their wands, as did Snape.

"I wish to talk to Page. Not that it is any of your business, Black," sneered Snape.

"She's busy and I highly doubt she'd want to speak with you." Sirius had started to rise from his seat and Ally looked at Lily incredulously, her look asking whether she had just heard right.

At Lily's nod of acknowledgement, she turned to Sirius and with a huff said, "I am right here Sirius and am perfectly capable of speaking for myself. All of you put your wands away before you do something stupid. That goes for you lot as well." She said as she spotted that some of the Gryffindors sitting closest to them had also reached for their wands. "Honestly!" she gave them all a good glare until they put their wands down, though Snape, James and Sirius seemed rather reluctant. "Now what did you want to talk to me about Severus?" She asked as she gave him most her attention, still watching the boys' movements out of the corner of her eye.

"I'd rather we talked somewhere more private about this Page, if you don't mind?" He asked glancing at the marauders who had stiffened slightly at his request.

"Anything you want to say to her you can say in fr-" started Sirius but he was quickly interrupted by Ally response.

"Sure Severus, just give me a sec'." As she stood up Ally grabbed some of the chocolate covered biscuits that had been served for desert and, telling Lily that she would see her in the common room later, followed Snape down the aisle between the tables and out into the entrance hall.

"So what did want to talk to me about?" She asked after he had led her to a spot away from the door where they wouldn't be overheard. Ally chewed on one of the biscuits as she waited for him to say something. "You want one?" She asked as she offered one.

"Thanks." He took the biscuit and looked it over for a moment. "You should be careful around them." He said without looking up from his study of the biscuit. "You might catch something."

"Like what?" Ally asked as she bit the head off what looked like an owl.

"Well, Lupin disappears a lot. Everyone says that he's ill or visiting a family member who is suffering from something."

"What _are _you talking about Severus?" He looked up at her.

"You won't have noticed it yet, I know, but strange things happen when he's not here." Ally raised an eyebrow.

"Like what?" _Best let him do most of the talking_, she decided.

He paused and bit off part of his biscuit. "Just don't go outside at night. Especially when he's _sick_."

Ally didn't say anything for a moment. _Well. That was different to what I was expecting. No mention, at least, of things going bump in the night._ Taking a deep breath she handed him another of the biscuits. "At least you can do subtle." He looked at her, confusion flitting across his features before he replaced his mask of indifference. "Well, better than Flint anyway. His point was quite obvious the assh-…well, _hem_, if I hadn't known what you were talking about it would have taken me ages to work it out, if I even could." He still looked quite puzzled so Ally elaborated for him "I'm well aware of Remus' _affliction_, but I'm sure that wasn't the only thing you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You knew…but…how…did he-" Snape couldn't seem to think straight. _I think the poor boy is in shock._ Ally thought and she couldn't help but laugh slightly. _Scary Professor Snape at a loss for words? Oh, that was good._

"Did he tell me?" She finished the sentence for him. "No, he didn't. Uncle Albus told me once that one of his students was a..." she paused to glance around the hall "well, uh, you know...and that he was about my age. I figured the rest out for myself. It was the little things that did it and mainly because I was looking for them. He is awfully pale, is covered in scars and has such lovely amber eyes. Albus also told me a little about why you all don't like each other, though I don't think it was the whole story." Ally smiled at him. _Just please don't ask what I know._ She willed him silently. _I don't remember much of that bit in the book and am likely to add things from fanfiction that might be wrong._ "Now what else did you want to tell me?"

"_Uncle_ Albus?"

"Long story. Short version is that he's an old friend of the family." She saw over Snape's shoulder that the Marauders and Lily had left the great hall and she pulled him slightly further into the shadows, nodding towards the group at his shocked expression. Sirius was red faced and talking in a low voice to James and Peter while Remus and Lily walked behind them talking to each other. Remus was the first to notice Ally and Snape and when Lily turned her head and saw them as well, Ally held her finger to her lips motioning for them to keep quiet. Lily nodded and pulled Remus along with her as she went up the stairs following the boys.

"Right. Well that was close." At a look from Snape she continued. "Last thing I feel like right now is listening to you lot argue about nothing in particular. Besides, you were going to tell me something remember?"

"I was going to ask if you were still interested in testing my potions." He said it quickly as though embarrassed and then looked away from her.

"I'd love to Severus." He looked at her and nodded.

"Just please keep it to yourself for now though Page." He told her.

"Don't want your friends to know you're working with a Gryffindor? I get it. But they shouldn't be allowed to dictate what we can and can't do based on what house we're in. And call me Ally." Ally looked away from him for a moment, thinking _I can't change how a whole house thinks but if I can just get Snape to understand it'll be worth it__. He seems like he might actually be a nice person._

"I wonder if the professor might even let us try something from the restricted section. Albus let me look through some of the books over the holidays. Something called an animagus. It sounded really interesting. I know it needs to be used with self-transfiguration," here she gave Snape a big smile, "but wouldn't it be so cool to be able to turn into an animal. I know professor McGonagall can turn into a cat." At his amused expression she paused. "I'm getting ahead of myself a bit aren't I?" She grinned sheepishly. "I guess I should be getting back to the common room anyway. Goodnight Severus. I'll see you in Defence tomorrow." With a last smile she turned and headed toward the marble staircase.

"Wait!" he called out to her as she reached the top of the stairs. Ally turned and gave him a confused look. He shook his head, "never mind," and turned towards the dungeons. Ally couldn't help the giggle that escaped as she continued towards the Gryffindor common room. This could actually be fun.

After giving the fat lady the password to the common room Ally walked in fully intending to go straight up to bed and settle down with a good book. The lack of homework for today made her feel less guilty about calling it an early night rather than studying. When she walked through the portrait hole and into the common though, Ally realised that she would need to modify her plans. The Marauders and Lily had been sitting around the fire while Sirius, red faced and pacing in front of them, was muttering under his breath. When Ally had entered the common room they had turned to look at her and Sirius had stopped his pacing to glare in her direction.

"Where have you been? Off snogging with that snake? How can you betray your house like that?" Sirius was growling at her now. Shocked at what he had just said, Ally stood there for a moment looking at him as he glared right back at her, then at the others. Remus and Lily looked embarrassed but it appeared that James and Peter were siding with Sirius again. "What? Surprised we figured out what you and your little _friend_ were up to?" She couldn't help it, she burst into laughter.

When she could breathe again she turned to Sirius "No. I'm actually just surprised that after 24 hours of having met me, you think you have the right to tell what I can and can't do and more insultingly, that you think I'm the kind of girl who would do that with a boy I'd just met." Ally snapped at him, thinking about what she had told Severus only minutes ago. "You are not my keeper Sirius Black and you would do well to remember that." Hoisting her bag further up on her shoulder she turned towards the girl's staircase only to find that Sirius had vaulted over the back of the lounge that had been separating them and was now standing in front of her, blocking the way up the stairs.

"What were you and Snivillus talking about that took so long. How can you be interested in someone like _him_?" He demanded.

"Uh-huh, now I think I see, you mean over someone like you. I've been warned about your reputation by several portraits and let me remind you again Sirius, you are not my keeper and I don't need to explain my actions to you. I decide who I talk to, not you. And what Severus and I talked about is none of your business. Now, please move, you are blocking the stairs."

"My reputation? What would you know about it?" He was still quite angry and Ally could see that he was aiming for a fight, he wanted to vent his anger and if he thought yelling at her would help he was going to do it. _I could just back down, but there is no way in hell he's going to get away with treating me like this. He wants an argument. Fine. I'm going to bring him down a peg or two._

"I know enough. That every time a portrait sees you, you're with another girl. Now move, you're creating a scene." And indeed everyone in the common room was now watching them in awkward fascination. Ally tried to side-step him but he grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him.

"We're not finished talking." He growled at her.

"Oh yes we are!" And with a resounding slap across his face, Ally pulled her arm from his grasp, pushed passed him and calmly walked up the stairs to the girl's dorm. She'd be damned if she let him get to her. The audience in the common room was silent until they heard a door close, all attention now swivelling from the staircase to Sirius.

"I think you may have gone a bit too far this time Pads," said Remus, as he walked up to his friend. "This will take one big apology mate."

"Why should I apologise? She's the one who hit _me_!" Sirius was glaring at the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

"I doubt she'd even listen to an apology from you at the moment much less accept one. You were way out of line Sirius and I think you deserved what you got." With that said Lily brushed past him and headed up the stairs as well.

With a growl and last glare up the stairs, Sirius turned and stormed back over to the lounge. Flopping down on it he did the only thing he could think of in this situation: plot revenge against Snape, a prank to out-do all the others he had ever done. Snape would regret the day he turned Ally Page against him.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the seventh year girls' dorm room, Ally and Lily were trying to remove a large scorch mark from the wall. It had been scorch free until Ally vented her anger on it with a steady stream of flames. When they finally succeeded, Ally flopped backwards across her bed and pulled the pillow over so that it was covering her face.

Lily sighed and sat on the bed next to her. "Sirius isn't all bad. He just doesn't handle rejection very well." Ally pulled the pillow away from her face, instead hugging it against her chest and looked over at Lily, motioning for her to continue. "He didn't have what one would call a loving home environment growing up. He actually ran away and has been living at James' parents' house since he was fifteen."

"That doesn't excuse how he acted Lily. He had no right to tell me what to do." Ally said sadly, turning her head away from Lily.

"I know. I'm just worried about what he'll do to Snape now." This made Ally sit up quickly and look at her.

"What do you mean? What would he do something to Severus for?" Ally remembered reading a conversation Sirius was having with someone about how they pranked Snape 'just because' and that Snape's breathing or being there was more than enough of a reason.

"Well Sirius, as you pointed out, is jealous of the fact that you are on familiar terms with Snape. I suppose he is also not quite sure how to handle someone being nice to the person he has hated for his whole time at Hogwarts. You didn't even seem to notice that Gryffindors and Slytherins are rivals and when you defend Snape and the other Slytherins it probably causes him no end of confusion. He was raised with this rivalry between the houses and with his brother now in Slytherin like the rest of his family, he hates everything about the house."

"And what about you?" she asked Lily. "You weren't raised with this rivalry, so why aren't you and Severus close friends anyone?" Lily looked shocked.

"How did you know about that? Did he tell you?" She blurted out quickly.

"No. One of the portraits in the library was telling me that you used to always study together and would laugh and talk about things that had happened when you were younger. The painting said that the house rivalries ended up pulling the two of you apart."

"Yes, well, we were friends when we were younger. He lived not far away from where I did. He actually caught me doing accidental magic when I was about eight years old. We were fine together at Hogwarts for the first few months but then we started to drift apart. Neither house could tolerate our friendship. It finally ended for me in fifth year after our OWL exams. James and Sirius played this nasty prank on Snape and, when I offered him help, he called me a filthy mudblood. I rarely even speak to him now." Ally lent over and gave Lily a brief hug.

"I'm sorry Lily. I still can't see what any of this has to do with why they would prank Severus just because we were talking?" Ally stood up and headed over to her trunk to retrieve some pyjamas.

Lily sighed. "I'm sure the professors have warned you about the Marauders. I fear that their pranks are going to become legendary. Anyway, Sirius is probably sitting somewhere planning a prank to use against Snape. You'd better be careful in case he decides to include you as well."

"Thanks Lily, if you find out what he plans to do or when, could you let me know and I'll warn Severus?" Lily smiled.

"Sure thing. I'll see you in the morning." Lily picked up a book and was opening the door to the dorm room when she was stopped by the sound of Ally's voice.

With a smile Ally said, "Could you let Sirius know that he may now grovel and beg for my forgiveness?" Lily just laughed and nodded before heading back down to the common room.

Getting out a book on becoming an animagus, Ally curled up on the bed and settled in for an hour or two of quiet reading, thinking as she did about what Albus and Professor McGonagall had told her a few days ago.

(Flashback)

"_About your request to become an animagus," Dumbledore was saying. "I have discussed it with Minerva and she has agreed that if you are coping well with your courses and your grades are good she will start teaching you next month. I am a little concerned that you feel you need to do this and not register with the ministry though you have explained some of your own concerns about Voldemort."_

"_Yes sir. I know I should register, and I'm not saying that I never will, it's just that until Voldemort is gone I'm going to be a target. I know too much about him and the future, things he wouldn't want known to others, it's just that I'm going to be in danger should he ever find out. I just want to have something I can use to slip away unnoticed if I need to."_

"_Very well. As long as you promise that you will register after Voldemort's defeat," at her nod he continued, "and of course your grades must be suitable, then I will give my permission as your guardian for you to study with Minerva."_

"_Thankyou Albus."_

"_Not a problem my dear. Now, here is a pass for the restricted section, Madame Pince will be able to find you some books on animagi that you might be interested in." Eyes twinkling, he handed her the piece of parchment then shooed her out of his office._

Ally had then gone straight to the library and found Madam Pince stocking the new books that had been ordered from Flourish and Blots. After helping Madam Pince finish putting the books away and another ten minutes locating the animagus books she wanted, Ally had left the library and headed back to her room to begin reading.


	5. Meetings

**Disclaimer: I do not own the concept for the iPhone. Don't actually own an iPhone. I have an iPod. Rather, convenient piece of technology don't you think. I also don't own anything Harry Potter.**

**A.N. Apologies for any spelling or grammatical mishaps. Sometimes I can be a bit lazy about doing a spell check.**

Don't let us make imaginary evils, when you know we have so many real ones to encounter.

**Oliver Goldsmith (1730 - 1774)**

**Chapter five**

Two weeks later, Sirius and therefore James and Peter, were still not talking to her. It was late on Thursday afternoon, with not long to go before dinner would be served in the great hall and Ally was sitting at a table in the common room, her homework and notes spread out around her. She was attempting to get as much of the homework completed now, during her free period, as she could. That way she would have the rest of the night available for reading and she wouldn't have as much work to do tomorrow. The only trouble was that a certain group of boys kept distracting her. They had been playing exploding snap for the last hour and she had been dripping ink on her assignments every time a card exploded.

Feeling as though someone was watching her she looked up and caught Sirius' gaze and blank expression. When he saw that he had been caught he immediately looked away from her and played another card in their game. At the next explosion of cards and line of ink across her page, Ally gave a disgruntled snort and threw the quill down on the table. Getting up she headed to the dorm rooms and fished out the little muggle pencil case that held a selection of variously coloured pens, which she had bought on the shopping trip with Professor McGonagall, then headed back down to complete the last assignment she had left.

When she reached the table she found Remus sitting in the chair next to hers, flipping through her finished potions essay on the 'New advances and current research in potions'. They had been required to look into the new potions that had been and were being created and write up what they had found out. She had picked the Wolfsbane potion for hers. It was in the first stages of testing and she had managed to contact Damocles Belby; the man who invented the potion and would ultimately perfect it, and he had been kind enough to send back detailed responses to her questions. As it was, she had at least five notebook pages written that she had transferred onto her roll of parchment and professor Roach had only assigned them two feet of parchment (approx. two pages in her note book).

As she sat back down next to him, Remus' head shot up and he looked at her a little guiltily as he put the parchment down.

"You seemed really frustrated as you went upstairs," he tried to explain himself, "I just thought that you may have needed some help, but looking over this I guess you're doing okay with it." He smiled sheepishly at her.

"That's okay. And thanks for the offer. I just needed to get a pen. This ink business is going to drive me to madness." With a laugh she gestured towards the pile of rejected parchment before pulling out a clean, unmarked roll. "I just have to copy the draft from my charms note book and then I'm done for the night." She looked up and saw that he was trying to keep reading the potions essay, even though it was only half unfurled and upside down. "You know, I have a copy of that in my potions notebook along the questions I asked Mr Belby. You're welcome to borrow it if you like."

"I-I'm sure it would be interesting but what makes you think that I'm interested, that is to say, well, um, I didn't mean that I…um…thanks, I guess." Remus stuttered out, finishing with a red-faced thankyou and concerned, Ally put her hand on his arm. _This must be really hard for him. I wonder if he ever found out about this research before, or does my being here change that?_

"It's alright Remus, I-"

'BANG!' Having been about to say that she understood, Ally was glad that the sudden explosion from the boys' pile of cards and the immediate glance in their direction from Sirius had provided her with an instant and not suspiciously unlikely change of topic.

"Those boys!" she huffed. "Sorry Remus," she apologised, "but after last week they've been avoiding me like the plague. And whenever I'm trying to concentrate I keep catching him looking at me. What is his problem?" Here she turned to look at Remus, indicating that she really wanted an answer.

"He's just sore that you were right. Being slapped didn't help either." Ally went to protest but he held up a hand to stop her. "I know he brought it on himself, but I'm just trying to say that he's never had that happen to him before. Also, I think he likes you." Ally stared at him with shock on her face. "And he's gotten it into his head that it is all Snape's fault that the two of you had that argument and has been planning a prank against him. Just a warning though, I wouldn't drink anything at lunch tomorrow if I were you." With a wink and a quick smile he got up and headed over to the rest of the Marauders who were waiting for him at the portrait hole.

Ally checked her watch and realised that dinner had started a few minutes ago. With a sigh she started to pack away her things. She would finish the charms essay after dinner.

As she did for every other meal, Ally took a seat near to where the Marauders sat. From some of the fanfiction she had read, Ally was hoping that her being this close to them would discourage any prank attempt they may think of making on her. Odds that it could backfire on them were in her favour, or at least, she hoped they were.

After starting on her second helping of roast lamb (she'd skipped lunch in favour of completing her homework), a large, tawny, owl landed next to her plate knocking over a jug of water in the process. It held its foot out to her and Ally curiously removed the letter from the owl's leg. After giving the owl a large piece of the lamb she opened the letter to find that it was a note from Dumbledore, curly script written in shimmering, green ink.

_**Please come to my office when you have finished dinner. Our group of friends will be meeting tonight. The password is sugar mice.**_

_**A.D.**_

Looking up towards the staff table Ally nodded when she caught Dumbledore's eye. He nodded back and returned to a conversation he had been having with Professor McGonagall. Putting the letter in her pocket, Ally thought to herself '_They're probably talking about Transfiguration', _as she noticed the animated hand gestures. She had been witness to plenty of these conversations during the holidays after she had first arrived. When those two got going you could only hope that neither had a wand in their hand and that you weren't around to get dragged into the conversation. The slightly obscure charms they were discussing would take a long time to reverse if one of them accidentally let loose with a blast of magic and if they managed to get you in their conversation, well, Ally really didn't want to think about that horrible encounter.

As Ally was finishing off her bowl of ice-cream, she noticed that Professor Dumbledore had already left the great hall and that Professor McGonagall was just standing up to leave. Grabbing one of the sugar cookies from a plate in front of her, Ally got up and followed the Transfiguration Professor out into the hallway. Professor McGonagall had stopped at the stairs to wait for her but as she approached the stairs, Snape came out of the great hall on his way to the dungeons. "Hold on Professor." She said quickly as she turned away and ran over to where Snape was. "Severus!" She called out to him and he stopped, turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow. "Remus warned me that Sirius and James might have something planned for tomorrow. He said that I should avoid drinking anything at lunch tomorrow and I think you should too."

"Why should I believe anything _Lupin_ told you?" He asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but it's your choice." She turned her head and saw that the Professor was still waiting for her. "I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." As she hurried over to where professor McGonagall was waiting she smiled to herself as a plan started to form in her mind. _Marauders beware!_

The meeting of the Order of the Phoenix had been going for over an hour now. The topic they had started with was that someone might be leaking information to the Dark Lord. The topic now, you guessed it, _someone might be leaking information to the Dark Lord_. Their progress? Everyone is a suspect.

Ally groaned a put her forehead on the table, wrapping her arms around her head to block out the light. Currently three groups of people in the room were arguing about whether it was her or not, the rest were just voicing their opinions on spies. She knew that they didn't trust her and she could understand how they saw it, but _really_ _Voldemort wouldn't even need a spy_, she thought, _he'd just have to- _a thought had just occurred to her. Standing up, Ally cleared her throat and tried to get everyone's attention.

"Oy, shut up and sit down for a minute!" yelled one the younger members before flopping back into his seat and giving Ally a thumbs-up. Ally thought that he was one of the Prewett twins but couldn't be sure as there was only one of him at the moment. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him then towards Ally who was still standing.

Giving the man a grateful smile, Ally cleared her throat again before continuing with, "Have any members been taken by Voldemort recently?"

"We lost a few good members during a raid over the summer," said Dumbledore. "Three dead and one missing."

Ally nodded to him. "Would the person who's missing have known that information, the stuff we think a spy leaked to Voldemort?"

Dumbledore nodded and was about to say something but was cut off by one of the other order members, Ally couldn't remember the woman's name though, "Just what are you implying?" The woman hissed at Ally. "That Fergusson would betray us to the Dark Lord?"

"Not exactly. But _**Voldemort**_ is perfectly capable of reading other people's minds. There's also truth serums, the Imperius curse, confession under torture. He may have given the information over willingly or it could have been forced from him." Ally made sure to emphasise Voldemort's name. _Better to break them of the twitching habit now,_ she thought.

Dumbledore was silent for a moment before he looked at Ally. "You may be right; I will have to look into this further. For now though, I believe we should continue with our meeting." After everyone agreed he continued. "Voldemort is gathering followers at an alarming rate. Unfortunately some of our current suspects are still students here. I was recently informed by one of the portraits that there are students who have not only joined Voldemort but are also attempting to recruit from the student body. The portrait was not able to determine any information regarding their identities save for that one is female and they appear to be older students." Dumbledore continued gravely, "I will be organising to have more patrols by both teachers and Prefects; however there is not much else we can do until we have further information regarding their activities."

After a few more minutes, in which the order members relayed whatever scraps of information they had uncovered, Dumbledore dismissed the order and everyone filed out of the room using the Floo Network or leaving by way of the corridors in ones or twos. Waiting until the last person had left, Ally walked over to where Dumbledore was banishing the conjured chairs and table that had been used during the meeting. "Professor?" she asked and he looked up at her. "I was wondering, could we talk for a minute?"

"Certainly my dear," he said as he pulled two chairs over so that they were facing each other and sat down.

Sitting in one of the chairs herself, Ally let out a sigh. "Well, I was talking with Severus a few days ago and Sirius got all defensive about it and, long story short, he got a good slap across the face and is now planning some awful prank against Severus and maybe me as well." She looked up from where she had been looking at her hands, "I was hoping you might be able to help me and Severus get something ready to use as pay back?"

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling. "As a professor I cannot condone revenge."

"But as 'Uncle Albus'"

"Ah, that is a different matter indeed, if you come by here tomorrow morning we'll have breakfast and come up with some counter measures. Perhaps you could invite young master Snape to join us." He smiled when Ally yawned. "It is getting quite late. I think you should be heading off bed. Don't want to be out after curfew, now do you." With a smile and quick goodnight to the professor, Ally headed to the owlery to send a quick message to Snape. Getting there she scrawled out a short note on a scrap of parchment using one of her ball point pens, _how wizards can manage to cope entirely with quills and ink I'll never know._

_**Severus. Meet me outside Professor Dumbledore's office if you can, at around 7.30 tomorrow morning. I have an idea on how to handle the upcoming prank. Don't worry about breakfast. There will be some there.**_

_**A.**_

Going to the nearest owl she gave it the note and instructed it to fly directly to Severus Snape and not to give it to anyone else. As she watched the owl soar out into the darkness she pondered her idea. It was complicated but it might just work if she could get all of the details straightened out. Rubbing the encroaching sleep out of her eyes she turned and headed back to the Gryffindor common room, she had that charms assignment to finish copying before she could go to bed.


	6. OUPs

**Disclaimer: I do not own milk. But I will by this afternoon. It's near the top of my shopping list. Not the concept of milk, mind you, just my very own two litre bottle. And again, I do not own Harry Potter.**

_"When life gives you lemons, make grape juice. Then sit back and let the world wonder how you did it."_

Anon.

**Chapter six**

By seven o'clock the next morning, Ally was seated at a table in Dumbledore's private rooms discussing how best to exact their revenge. It had been agreed between them that no counter attacks, or in this case pranks, would be launched until there was something to merit a counter. They had just been refining Ally's plans when a portrait alerted the two that a student was waiting outside the entrance to Dumbledore's main office. Rushing from the room and through the office, Ally had to slow herself before she fell down the spiral staircase.

Opening the entrance, she smiled at a nervous looking Snape. "Oh good. I was hoping that you'd make it." Without giving him the chance to make a reply, Ally grabbed his arm and pulled him up the stairs.

"Where's the Headmaster? Are you sure he doesn't mind us using his office?" Snape asked as he took a look around.

"He's through here," she indicated a door that he had never noticed in prior visits; it was nestled between to bookcases and had a small table between it and himself. "And so is breakfast." She continued as she pulled open the door and went inside. A few moments later she poked her head back out, "well? Come on, I'm hungry."

Mastering his nerves, Snape cautiously entered the room to find that it was Dumbledore's private quarters. He was now in what appeared to be the main living area. There were a pair of armchairs and a couch near a large open fireplace, there was a desk and some bookshelves in the far corner, and most importantly a dining table set with four chairs; the headmaster sitting in one of them, a cup of tea in front of him, and Ally in another. "Ah, now that we are all present shall we order some breakfast? Take a seat my boy, now what would you like to have." He noticed that Ally had called for a house elf while the professor had been talking to him.

"I don't want to intrude-" he started.

"Nonsense," said Ally, "I did invite you for _breakfast_ remember." She gave him a small smile of encouragement. "I'll have some scrambled eggs and toast and some orange juice please Miry." She told the little elf. "What about you Sev." She shortened his name without meaning to but decided that this could be a good thing. The boy needed to feel he had a friend and she had every intention of being that friend now that she had met him. She couldn't let him anywhere near Voldemort.

"Are there any pancakes?" he asked the house elf.

"Oh yes sir! Blueberry and chocolate and some that taste like vanilla!" squeaked the little elf.

"Okay, um the blueberry? And some orange juice for me as well." The little elf nodded her head vigorously and turned to Dumbledore for his order.

The Headmaster looked thoughtful for a moment, "hmm, those vanilla pancakes sound wonderful, but I do so love the chocolate ones." He turned to Severus. "You know, nobody can make chocolate pancakes like the Hogwarts elves. I have been to many places in my life but I have never found their equal. Yes…yes I think I'll have the chocolate pancakes, thankyou Miry and could I also have some more tea?"

"Miry will have the foods up here very soon Headmaster Dumbly." With that said the little elf vanished with a pop.

"Do take a seat Mr Snape and we will start our discussion." Professor Dumbledore motioned to the seat across from Ally and waited until he had sat down before continuing. "Now Ally tells me that there is an impending prank against you and, quite possibly, her. We have discussed possible courses of action and I believe we have a basic plan, all we need to do is round out the details and the two of you should be set." He looked to Snape for a response.

"I'm not quite sure that I understand, Sir," he replied, glancing between Ally and the Headmaster; he was not sure what he should be saying.

Ally decided she would fill him in and that she would again shorten his name, if he did not like her doing that he could always say so. "Well you see Sev, these Marauders have been planning something, too much whispering and huddled conversations for them to be going on about homework, no, I am sure that they're up to no good. What we," here she looked at Dumbledore and receiving a nod continued, "What we have decided to do is not put O.U.P.s into motion unless they make the first move."

"Oops?" Snape had raised an eyebrow.

"O U P little s; Operation Undercover Prank sssssssssss. I think Albus has too much time on his hands."

"Why wait, if you're sure they're going to do something and why undercover?" asked Snape sounding confused.

"Well it's hardly revenge without a first attack, now is it? The undercover part is the fun bit and a prank all in itself. We'll have part of our prank ready to go by the time class starts, the second the boys set off theirs we set off ours. We won't of course immediately tell them who did it, just sit back and watch the drama instead. I want to space it over a few days if we can, so they won't now when the next will be. They'll beg for mercy before the week is out! Mwahahahaha!" Ally indulged in a spot of evil laughter. "What we need is your help on some of the details. It's all a bit roughed out as we've only been talking about it since this morning. I know what I want to do but just not how make everything work. Before we start though was there anything you want done as part of the master plan?" She started on the eggs that had only just materialised on a plate in front of her.

Severus looked to Professor Dumbledore, trying to gage his opinion on the subject matter and received a smile and a small nod of the head. "I suppose I wouldn't mind seeing…"

Having missed the opportunity to humiliate Snape at breakfast, and with a much anticipated prank now on hold, Sirius was so busy glaring at the table and stabbing his bacon and eggs with a fork breakfast was over before he noticed that Snape was not the only one missing the most important meal of the day. "Uh, Lily?" he asked, diverting her attention from James as they walked to the library, having no scheduled classes immediately following breakfast. "Where's Ally?"

"You weren't paying any attention at breakfast were you, Sirius?" Remus laughed lightly at him and Sirius thought he must have missed her when he'd looked around the Gryffindor table, but Remus continued, "She's having breakfast with the Headmaster this morning."

"What? Why?" asked Sirius. Everyone rolled their eyes.

"You've been watching her for the last two weeks and now you're saying you haven't noticed anything?" James asked incredulously. "She always has breakfast with the headmaster on a Friday. Some sort of family/guardian bonding thing."

"Oh, yeah." He remembered now. "Hey, prank #422 still on for lunch."

"You bet!" smiled James. "The look on Snivillus' face..." he grinned wider at the thought and Lily hit him on the head.

"One day," she said, "a prank is going to backfire terribly on you and I'm telling you now that you won't get any sympathy from me." James just kept smiling as he imagined the different reactions.

As Remus pushed the door to the library opened he groaned. There, seated at the table closest to the library's fireplace, a table reserved by unspoken agreement for the Marauders, sat the new girl, Ally and Snape. _'Of all the places they could have chosen.' _thought Remus as he looked around at all the empty tables scattered throughout the room, _'the guys aren't going to like this.'_ As they continued into the library it seemed the only other person to spot the forthcoming fight was Lily. James, Sirius and Peter kept walking until, just feet from the table, Sirius' face turned red and he let out an "Oy!"

After finalising their plans and finishing breakfast, the two teens excused themselves and headed toward the library. Since they both had a free period now they had decided to use the time to finish of the last of their homework. The temperature inside the castle had dropped today and Ally, being used to warmer weather, was shivering by the time they entered the library. "Dibs!" She called to Severus as she dashed forward and grabbed the chair directly in front of the fireplace.

"You are aware that is the Marauder's table, aren't you?" He drawled, following her at a slower pace.

"What can I say Sev? You snooze, you lose. Now, Charms or Transfiguration first?" she asked as she started pulling books from her bag.

"Actually, I thought we might go over some of the notes I've made during Potions." He paused as he pulled his potions text from his bag. "I've spoken to Professor Roach and she said we could start our brewing Thursday after dinner if we prepared what we wanted to do first.

"Excellent! So which potion did you have in mind?" Ally asked as she scooted herself closer to him so she could see the page he had turned to.

"Well, a little bit of this would surely be a welcome addition over the next week or so. I'm sure the professor wouldn't be too concerned if we appeared to be a little short of the final potion. After all, we did change a few of the steps." As he said this he had turned the book so she could see it better. Ally grinned.

"Perfect."

Heads almost touching as they scribbled their thoughts on a spare piece of parchment, outlining things they could do (for the morale and entertainment of the school, of course,) they were disturbed a few minutes later by a rather undignified noise that sounded something like an 'oy!'

Looking up, the two lent back slightly at the glares they were getting from three of the five people in front of them. "What?" Ally eventually had to ask.

"What are you doing at our table Snivillus," James growled as he glared at Snape. Sirius was just glaring, his face stating to purple.

"One: this is _not_ your table. It is the property of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft And Wizardry. Two: Not really any of your business, but we are doing homework. And three: I've told you before that I don't appreciate the language or the tone you just used. And Sirius, if you don't breath in the next few seconds you are going to pass out." Ally told the two glaring boys before pulling a fresh sheet of parchment towards her, covering the sheet she and Severus had just been working, before copying notes from an open charms book beside her. Ignoring the glare contest she slowly reached down to loosen the fingers Snape had clenched around his wand, though she didn't make him let go of it completely. She knew exactly where her wand was as well.

Unfortunately Sirius had seen her move her hand and snapped at them, "You're getting awfully cosy together." Ally didn't even look up as she answered. "If you would like to continue with that Sirius I feel I should warn you that you will have more than a minor slap coming your way. I suggest you take a deep breath and leave before Madam Pince throws all of us out." Sadly this had the wrong effect on Sirius and he chose to continue. "I suppose you've already put out for him have you." Lily gasped, James began to look a little embarrassed and Snape started to rise out of his chair. Ally simply looked up at Sirius and thinking of want she wanted, took a deep breath herself and whispered a spell that sent blue sparks into his face.

Sirius froze. Then, turning on the spot, with a look of dawning horror on his face his mouth opened and...


	7. Feathers

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry James Potter or any of the Potty-ness related to J.K. Rowling.**

**A.N. ** Sorry there was such a long gap between updates. As some of you may have noticed, I now have a new story for Inheritance Cycle which is taking up some of my time, the rest I've been spending between work and writing chapters for the sequel. I'm actually a bit disappointed in the first few chapters of this story. Has anyone else noticed how sucky my writing was at the beginning, or is it just me? I promise guys that there will be no more re-loading until I've completely finished both this story and the sequel. Cross my heart.

_We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us._

- Maurice Maeterlinck

**Chapter Seven**

Sirius froze. Then, turning on the spot, with a look of dawning horror on his face his mouth opened and he started to sing.

We're happy little Vegemites

As bright as bright can be.

We all enjoy our Vegemite

For breakfast, lunch, and tea.

Our mother's say we're growing

Stronger every single week,

Because we love our Vegemite,

We all adore our Vegemite,

It puts a rose in every cheek!

Sirius dipped into a curtsy at the end, the now crowded library giving him a standing ovation.

"Black!" snapped Madam Pince, coming around one of the shelves of books. "Get out of my library!" Sirius tried to protest but nobody wins an agreement against the strict librarian. He eventually bolted; pulling James along with him as he fled the Librarian's darkening expression.

Ally sighed as she put her head on the table. She was going to pay for that later she knew. With another sigh she looked up at the others still standing there.

Lily spoke first. "I'm sorry. That was way out of line; even for Sirius."

"There's nothing for you to apologise for Lily." Ally said, giving her friend a tight smile. She then noticed Remus; pale, dark bags under his eyes, looking as though he had slept in his clothes, and she realised suddenly that tonight was the full moon. "Remus, are you alright? Why don't you three join us?" she said including an awkward looking Peter. "Sev and I were just about to start on Charms." She indicated her open book.

"Sure, why not." Lily said pulling out a chair across the table.

"Now we add the nettles and stir counter-clockwise three times. It should go blue." Snape said as he and Ally looked down at the instructions. It was Thursday night, a week after the incident in the library and Ally and Severus were busy mixing up a batch of mayhem while Professor Roach was doing paperwork in her office next door. She would glance through the open door every few minutes to check on the whispering duo, a slight smile pulling at her lips every time she heard a snigger from the room. She knew which potion was being brewed as she had them submit a copy of their plans for each potion a week before brewing. It didn't take a neurohealer to figure out what they were up to.

She had spoken to Severus after a potions class earlier in the week, asking whether he understood the repercussions that could arise from such pranks. As a teacher she had felt obligated to admonish him for such behaviour and tell him that involving any member of the staff would result in detention, but it didn't stop her supplying a few of the more hard to come by ingredients.

"That's it." They looked down at a lightly bubbling cauldron of what appeared to be murky pond water; somewhat green, with clouds of little specks floating through it.

"Okay," Ally said as she filled nine vials with the potion, "If the Marauders try anything we'll be ready for them. If they prank either one of us I'll give these to the house elves, you hide yours somewhere as a backup supply." She separated the vials into two lots of four, labelling only the ninth vial which would go to the professor to be marked.

Severus lips turned up in a sly grin, "I'll see you at breakfast then." Ally returned his smile as she let herself out of the room.

Severus walked over to knock on the Professor's door. "We're all done now professor," he said as he handed her the labelled vile.

"Alright Severus, goodnight. Just remember my warning."

He nodded. "I will Professor, goodnight."

Severus slowly made his way to the Slytherin dormitories, a warm feeling in his chest. It was nice to have friend; he didn't consider himself close to any of his dorm-mates and Lily had not been his friend for quite some time now. It was unfortunate that the house rivalries made any open friendship with a Gryffindor impractical. He wouldn't say it was impossible but it would not be pleasant for either of them, look at what had happened because he and Ally had been seen talking together. The Marauders were somewhat feared, and rightly so. If you found yourself on their bad side you might have boils or purple skin for a week, or both. Severus rubbed his arms at the painful memory, freezing as he turned the corner.

"Well now, what have we got here? Looks like a snake out of its hole." Three figures stood in the hallway; two tall and dark haired, one short and mousey brown.

"Potter, Black," Severus said shortly, trying not to show how nervous he was. "Get out of my way."

One of the dark haired boys skilfully twirled his wand between his fingers. "What's the rush Snivillus? You haven't got a date have you?" Severus just glared, his fists clenching by his sides. He was outnumbered and they all knew it. The boy's expression turned contemplative and he stopped spinning his wand. "She's far too good for you, you know. What would someone like her see in a no-good Slytherin, like you?" He had tilted his head to the side as though he were truly curious.

"Jealous, Black?" Severus asked with a sneer.

Sirius's face grew red and he whipped his wand up to point at the Slytherin's chest. "_Ranunculus!_" Severus cried out as the spell him, feeling a crawling sensation all over his skin. "Snape the Shrubbery. Has a nice ring to it don't you think, James?" The three Gryffindors laughed as they pushed past Snape and headed back to their own dormitory.

Severus looked down at himself and sighed in resignation. Little flowers had sprouted from his skin, covering him in a multitude of green stalks and coloured petals. His frown soon turned into a vengeful smirk. Waving his wand to dispel the majority of the flowers, Severus turned on his heel and set off for the owlery. Penning a letter in his mind as went; she would see to it that the house elves received the vials and tomorrow the Marauders would get what they deserved.

A shadowed figure, concealed in a heavy cloak, tickled the image of a painted piece of fruit. An arm extended from the folds of the cloak. "You know what do?" asked a sinister sounding voice.

"Oh yes! Minky knows," exclaimed a short creature with a decidedly cheery voice, as it took the offered vials. If the face of the cloaked figure could be seen, passersby would have seen it grimace at the happy elf.

"Excellent," the shadowed figure rubbed their hands together then let loose with an exceptionally superior evil laugh. "Our plan is in motion. Mwahhuhhuhhuhha".

Ally looked up from her breakfast as four boys flopped into chairs across the table. "Good morning!" said Ally in a sing-song voice. Remus nodded his head slightly, tilting it in her direction. The others just grumbled unintelligible replies, looking as though they would fall asleep in their breakfasts at any moment. "And how are we this wonderful, bright, sunshiny day?" she asked happily. Ally received a several scowls in answer, not just from the Marauders, but from students sitting nearby as well; no one was too pleased with her chipper, morning-person attitude. She knew the boys had been up until the early hours of the morning plotting; because she had been too. It is really interesting what one can hear if they take the time eavesdrop of their man. The boys were getting suspicious and thought she might be planning a prank of some sort in retribution.

_This is perfect,_ Ally thought gleefully. She was so excited about Severus's and her plan that she was finding it hard to keep a straight face. Fortunately for her she was well known as one of those weird morning people that are happy to be awake and ready to go before the sun's even up; no one was giving her a suspicious look.

Ally leant across the table and took something from each serving dish in front of the Marauders. Humming, she sat back down to eat having now led the boys into a false sense of security. From her seat Ally could see the rest of the Great Hall, Severus had come in moments before the Marauders and she hoped they hadn't given him anymore trouble. From the hastily written letter she had received last night, Severus was going to enjoy this. Ally sighed; she just wished that the boys could do without the fighting and pranking. She had to admit that she would enjoy the prank too, but it would be nice to be able to do this just for the fun of it and not as retribution.

Thankfully none of the other Gryffindors bothered with the plates around the Marauders; usually there was nothing left in the bowls anyway, so when Ally quietly muttered the activating spell only the prime targets were affected.

It took a minute for anyone to notice the changes that were slowly taking place; a giggle and some open mouthed stares. The boys ignored this as they were used to such behaviour regarding their eating habits. Finally, Ally couldn't take it anymore and snorted, spitting a mouthful of scrambled eggs across the table and splattering the shell-shocked boys. The Marauders went to exchange confused glances and screamed. Everyone else now began to laugh, the other houses looking over to see what had happened.

Where the infamous pranksters had been sitting there was now a motley crew of strange animals. Their hair had turned pale pink, their skin had developed a scale-like covering in a shocking lemon yellow with blue patterning and, resulting from another quick spell, they each on a blue leotard and pale yellow tutu to complement their new skin tone.

The boys were still screaming and pointing at each other, trying to assess the damage that had been done. Catching Sirius's eye, Ally winked then stood and left the Great Hall to the sounds of hysterical laughter. She didn't stop giggling until reaching their first class of the day; Care of Magical Creatures.

The day had been wonderful. The Marauders had been asked to sit at the edge of the class because their new appearance was scaring the litter of crup puppies brought in especially for the lesson, then Professors Roach and McGonagall had sent them out of their classes for failing to wear the correct school uniform, Professor Roach was itching to give them a detention but decided it would be too unfair considering her earlier knowledge of the prank and had settled for docking house instead. Sadly for them, the spell was permanent for twelve hours and the potion would only wear off as it left their systems, Severus had figured about eight to fourteen hours depending on metabolism and physical activity.

Sirius had cornered her that afternoon in the hallway outside the library. "Did you do this?" he asked, motioning to the yellow scales on his arm.

Ally looked at him for a moment then shook her head. "No. I wanted orange and green feathers but Severus one the coin toss." She shrugged and made to enter the library but had to stop when she felt his hand on her arm. He wasn't gripping her tightly like he had those several weeks ago, so she easily brushed his hand off as she turned to face him.

"Why? How?" he spluttered. He had been sure she was responsible but it was still hard to get his head around the fact the Marauders, pranksters extraordinaire, had been _pranked_. This hadn't happened since he and James were second years.

"To show what would happen if you tried to mess with Severus again. And don't even think about coming after me, you'd find yourself committed to Saint Mungo's." with that, Ally turned again and headed into the library for a study session with Lily.


End file.
